Celebrate the Seasons
by Kornari
Summary: A collection of Avatar stories for the holidays. The Mistletoe Mishap. Zuko and Katara have an unexpected encounter, and everone gets a good Christmas laugh in the end. The Rose Ruse. AU, Toph and Iroh set up Zuko and Katara together on Valentine's day!
1. The Mistletoe Mishap Christmas '06

A/N: Ok, I thought of this the other night and I just had to write it up for y'all! It's a little oneshot of the Avatar cast Christmas Party and what happens there...you'll have to read it to find out what the "mishap" is...

* * *

It was Christmas Eve at Nick Studios, and the Avatar cast was throwing a party...

Katara grinned across the room at Aang, her arm brushing against the white feathers that lined the top of her dress as she waved to him and Toph. Sokka and Yue came up beside of her, grinning as they stood arm-in-arm.

"Here, want some punch?" Yue asked, handing her a glass of juice the same scarlet red as her dress. She smiled, nodding.

"Thanks." She took a sip, looking around. Everyone was here...Jin and Song, Tao, GranGran and Paku, Jet and the Freedom Fighters, Haru, Suki (who was amiably sharing Sokka with Yue)...Even Zuko and Iroh had made it. They all seemed to be having a good time, singing carols to the band and eating delicious Christmas cookies...

But Katara noticed one person not enjoying the festivities...a sulky, dark haired young man sitting in the corner. She frowned slightly, taking another drink of her punch, as she felt another's pereence behind her.

"Hey Katara..." Jet whispered in her ear, a sly grin on his face. "Wanna dance?"

Katara resisted the urge to slap him with a water whip (or punch whip, in this case). "No thanks, Jet, I'm a bit tired at the moment...maybe later."

He frowned. "Fine..." She grinned smugly as he wandered off, sulking, back to Smellerbee and Longshot. Feeling a bit devilish, Katara made her way across the room to where Iroh and Haru were talking amiably.

"Hello, Miss Katara." Iroh grinned, the first to notice the waterbender. Haru turned around, blushing slightly as Katara hugged him. She smiled as she stood back, looking to the old general.

"What's Zuko so upset about?" She asked casually, glancing to where he still sat, sulking in the corner. "I haven't seen him move, and I'm suprised he and Sokka haven't got into a fight yet."

"Yeah, I did notice he hasn't said a word to anyone..." Haru shrugged.

"I had to force him to come, I'm afraid." Iroh sighed. "He's angry with me for it, and has resolved himself to solitude."

"Well, maybe we can change that." Katara tried to hide the devilish grin from Haru, wondering in the back of her mind if Sokka happened to lace her punch with cactus juice...

She suddenly found herself standing next to Zuko, pulling the red Santa hat from her head and placing it crookedly onto his. He started to send her a glare, but she leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek...which was rapidly turning a delicate shade of pink.

"What're you doing?" He snarled, pushing her away. She grinned, eyes shining, as she pointed to the ceiling above them. Zuko turned his golden eyes to where she was pointing, mouth dropping open in suprise.

"I'm sure you know what happens when two people stand under the mistletoe, Zuzu..." Katara giggled, wondering where the nickname came from. He snarled at her, starting to walk away when he noticed Sokka standing not far off with Suki and Yue. His eyes had left the two beautiful girls to land on his sister, who was still standing close to Zuko. The younger boy's eyes narrowed, warning the Prince to watch his back...

Zuko couldn't help but sneer back as he turned around, grabbing Katara's bare arms. Without any hesitation, he pulled her close and placed his lips against hers. He grinned into the kiss as he saw the look of suprise in her blue eyes, coupled with the look of complete horror on her brother's face as he made his way to them.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY SISTER?" Sokka fumed, pushing her away from Zuko. He was shoving his finger in the older boy's chest when he heard unanimous giggling from behind him. Turning quickly, he saw Yue, Suki, Katara, and even Toph all laughing. It took all their strength to point up, still bent double with hysteria. Horrified, Zuko and Sokka looked up at the same time, finding themselves still under the ball of mistletoe...

And it was right then that Iroh showed up with a camera, capturing the two mortified boys' looks as they realized what had happened...

* * *

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO Y'ALL!

Kori

P.S. This story is also on my Deviantart Account (link on my profile), with a pic to go with it. Check it out! ;D


	2. The Rose Ruse Valentines '07

A/N: Another little holiday drabble for y'all! This one's actually based on a dream I had the other night, and I've decided to start another story (mainly random drabbles) called Avatar High. It'll be an AU with Katara as the main character, and everyone else is roughly the same age (since they're all in the same classes). But anyway, here's some AU Zutara fluffiness for you!

* * *

"Katara Soyala and Zuko Ryu to the Office please!"

The secretary's voice over the loudspeaker rang in my ears as I attempted to finish my Algebra homework before the teacher got around to checking it. My eyes flashed to hers, and she smiled softly at me, and then at boy sitting in front of me. "Go on, you two. I'm sure you're not in trouble. I'll check your homework while you're gone."

That made me feel so much better. "Thank you, Mrs. Ryu." I tried to smile, grabbing my assignment book and looking over my shoulder as I started to go. "Aren't you coming, Zuzu?"

He snarled at the pet name. "Go on, Zuko. I'm sure it's fine." Ursa Ryu's golden eyes softened as she urged her son on. He just rolled his eyes, and stood to follow me out.

We walked down the hall in silence. I wasn't sure exactly what to say. I'd known him since we started school, but I'd never gotten to know him very well, though his mother seemed nice. I'd never met his father…in fact, no one really had. Ozai Ryu was the mysterious, shadowy figure we'd come to know as our Superintendent. From what I'd heard in the years I'd known Zuko and his sister, Azula, their father wasn't the kindest of men. Apparently, he favored his daughter because she was smarter than her older brother. Azula was a year younger than Zuko and I, but she'd skipped a grade, so she was a freshman this year along with the two of us, and my friends Toph and Aang. My brother, Sokka, was a grade higher along with his friends, Jet and Haru.

Then again, maybe my tongue-tied-ness came from the fact that I'd had a crush on the boy since we were kids.

We came to the end of the hall, and he turned to go down the stairs. I followed, watching his dark hair bounce as he moved. He'd been letting it grow out, and I had to admit that the look suited him. When he came to the landing and turned the corner, his golden eyes flashed up at me for a moment. His eyebrow rose slightly, though what he was asking was beyond me. It might've been that he wondered why the two of us had been called down to the office…

Or it might've been the slight blush that had crept into my tan cheeks as I realized I was staring at the back of his head.

Whatever it was, I couldn't tell. We finally reached the office at the end of the first floor hall, and he held the door open for me. "T…thanks, Zuko." I stuttered.

"Sure, Katara." A rare smile leapt onto his lips for just a moment before slipping away again. I walked up to Ms. Yachi, smiling softly at the ancient old woman.

"Excuse me, we were just called down here." I told her, yelling slightly because of her hearing problem. I guess you start to lose your hearing after you hit seventy.

"Oh, yes. Katara and Zuko, right?" She smiled. Her long white hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head, but most of it still spilled back down over the back of her chair. She brushed it back as she pressed an intercom button and spoke into the microphone. "Ok, you can bring it in, Zhao."

The disgruntled janitor entered from behind us, pushing two large bundles into our arms. "Here. Happy now, Miki?"

"Yes, actually, I am now that you ask Mr. Monkey-face." That comment from the eccentric old woman got a snigger out of even Zuko. I tried hard, but failed to hide a fit of giggles as Zhao frowned and turned to leave again. He really did look like a monkey, now that I thought about it.

"You're insane, Miki."

"That's right! And don't you forget it!" She cackled. "Oh, I never tire of harassing him. He's such a sourpuss." She wiped a tear from the corner of her wrinkled old eyes. She smiled at us, and then pointed to the two paper sacks in our arms. "Well, aren't you going to open them?"

I looked over at Zuko, who shrugged and started to do as she said. Together, we unwrapped two bouquets of roses…Zuko's were red, tipped in black, and mine were white and tipped with blue. "Oh, lovely!" Ms. Yachi clapped, "I wonder who they're from?"

"There's no name on the card…but there's a note attached to mine." Zuko said just as I found my own. It too was void of a name, but another note was folded delicately into an origami crane and pinned to it.

"Well, you two take those and get back to class." Ms. Yachi shooed us out, grinning. "You don't want to miss too much, or school's useless!"

The door shut behind us, and I found myself awkwardly close to Zuko. I walked off, trying to hide the blush creeping into my cheeks once more. He followed, walking up beside me and looking at the note. "That's odd." He said. "It says 'Look at her as she looks at me…' And there's still no name, but the handwriting looks familiar."

I shrugged, carefully unfolding my crane to read the note within. My heart nearly stopped as I read it. I stopped walking, staring at the writing in front of me. "What is it?" Zuko stopped beside of me, looking over my shoulder to read it. "You've got me thinking about you constantly…? What does that mean?"

"It's a song." I told him, not bothering to read the rest of the note. I knew what it said…

"What? It really is a song?" He asked, startling me from my thoughts.

"Yeah…it's one of my favorites. It's called 'Crazy for this Girl'." I said, still far off in my own little world.

"Really? Sing it for me." He grinned. How could I say no to that?

"Ok, but don't laugh." I took a deep breath before softly staring to sing what was written on my paper.

_When I look at you,_

_As you look at me,_

_You've got me thinkin' about you constantly,_

_But you don't know how I feel._

_And as we carry on without a doubt,_

_I wonder if you'll figure out,_

_That I'm crazy for you..._

I paused.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It says 'boy'…and some of the lyrics are changed…" I replied. "But, who…?" I paused as I realized just who'd written the lines of my favorite song on our papers. Well, mine anyway.

Toph.

The green-eyed girl had asked me for a copy of the lyrics to my favorite song about a week before…I hadn't thought anything about it then, because the two of us often shared songs since we had similar tastes in music. But now, I could see what was going on.

That little trick was trying to set me up with Zuko!

"What? I know that look, Katara. You've figured out something, now spill."

"Toph's trying to set us up together." I said, embarrassed.

"Why would she do that?" he raised a thick eyebrow in a quirky expression.

"I don't know…" I tried to hide the blush, but he grinned as he saw it.

"I think I do. But anyway, what do you think of the flowers?"

"They're beautiful. I like yours too."

"Why don't we trade one then?" He suggested, taking a single red rose from his bunch and placing it in with mine. I grinned, switching one of my white flowers into his.

"You know, this is the best Valentine's day I've ever had." I said as we came to the stairs again.

"Really? Sure, the flowers were nice, but this is really the best Valentine's day you've had?" He asked, his normally sullen attitude seemed to have melted away.

"Well, yeah. I got flowers, and I got to spend some time with you. That's got to count for something, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah…you know, when you put it that way, this is my best Valentine's day too." He stopped at the landing, fingers gently running over the soft petals of the single white rose in his bunch. He caressed the blue running along the tips as if contemplating whether to enter the ocean or not. Finally, it seemed as if his mind had been made up as he reached over to my bouquet and picked a rose from it. He placed it behind my ear, weaving it swiftly into my braid with a soft smile. My hand reached up to it as he stepped back, and I blinked a few times as I finally realized what'd happened in the last ten seconds.

"It matches your eyes. Whoever picked these out did perfectly." He smiled, leaning over to place a soft kiss on my cheek. A fierce blush creeped into my cheeks, and I couldn't meet his blazing golden eyes.

"Thank you…"

"Come on, we'd better get back to class." He grinned, offering his arm to me. Slowly, tentatively, I took it and we continued back to class. Just outside the classroom, he stopped again. I removed myself from his arm with a smile.

"Thanks for the best Valentine's day ever, Zuko." I worked up my courage, and before I could lose it again, I stood on my tiptoes slightly and pressed my lips against his for a brief moment. His eyes widened, and then he leaned back, letting his free hand move to my cheek. For what seemed like both an eternity and only a few seconds, we stayed that way. Then, as the two of us pulled away with smiles, he opened the door and waved me back into Algebra.

"Welcome back, you two." I heard Mrs. Ryu call from the front of the room, but my mind was somewhere else entirely as I sat down and started to catch up on the notes.

* * *

A short ways down the hall, a gray haired older man and a green-eyed young girl watched the two with smiles.

"Finally." They seemed to whisper in unison. Then, with huge grins, they turned and went back into the History classroom.

"That was a brilliant idea, Toph, setting them up like that."

"It was nothing, Iroh." She grinned. "They'd never suspect a thing."

Mr. Ryu nodded. "Yes, I think this will end up quite well for everyone…"

* * *

A/N: Yes! I know, so original that Iroh and Toph set them up...but hey, I love the way those two would just plot it all out perfectly! And by the way, I did research their last names. Soyala means 'Winter Solstice' in Japanese and Ryu means 'Dragon' (which I thought were appropriate).

But anyway, I just loved writing this fluff. I can't yet in After the Storm, because...well, I just can't. It's too early! I might _just_ get this kinda thing at the very end of AtS...if not, it's possible in the sequel I'm planning for it! So, to hold you over until then (or until another holiday comes around ;D), you get this!


End file.
